I am starting to think about setting a trailer up and had one thought. I have found two trailers on craigslist that are candidates. One boat trailer, one homemade job (looks good and looks like it would ride nicely) that has a wood deck. I like the idea of the weight reduction of the boat trailer. But a thought came to mind that I would like to see if anyone has experienced it. The open bottom boat trailer could allow a rock to fly off of a tire and hit the hull... What damage do you think this would cause? A hole? Chip? or???

I live in West Australia where there are a lot of un-sealed gravel roads, I travel many thousands of kilometers on these sorts of roads every year. Yes the back wheels do kick up a lot of stones particularly with chunky AT tyres on a 4x4.

I have had very little visible damage on my kayak. But I do carry it on the roof rack for seriously rough tracks where I do not want to take a trailer.

On my trailer I have fitted a flat alloy deck which is the material for tray back utilities. This stops a lot of the stones bouncing up. This is a good lightweight but strong decking that I can walk on while loading without slipping on a slippery boat ramp and ending up with one leg through the trailer chassis. It also gives me a flat trailer to carry other things.

Also I have used shadecloth mesh wrapped over the bow of the boat when carried on my camper trailer. This is quite loose and absorbs the impact of rocks before they hit.